Wednesday, May 23, 2007

At the local grocery store, I found frozen dough discs for making empanadas or meat turnovers. Well, how could I resist? In Hawaii, they do not have this dough available and if they did, it would probably costs you and arm and a leg, so I make my own and it is a lot of work.

I found a recipe for Argentinian Empanadas on the web. However, I didn't want to use ground beef. Instead, my mom cooked a chuck roast until it was very tender. I then shredded it like ones does when making ropa vieja (old clothes...a Cuban shredded meat dish). I also used Goya Sazon seasoning, instead of paprika and the jalapeno peppers. I fried half of the batch (of 20) and baked half of them.

My dad and mom seemed to enjoy them. Joey liked them too. The real test will be today when my brother comes over. If he liked them, then they turned out really well :-)

Last night I had trouble sleeping and my usual books weren't very interesting. I decided to read one of my cookbooks, A Time Life cookbook to be exact. It was the American Cooking series and I happened to pick up the Southern cooking one. They had a wonderful recipe of Maryland Fried Chicken with cream gravy. Well, that's what we had for dinner.

Monday, May 7, 2007

The other day I went to the Greek Corner kiosk and bought a little triangle of Spanakopita and a small salad for $5.00!!! Yeesh! That along with watching for the millionth time My Big Fat Greek Wedding, put me in the mood for homemade spanokopita. We also have been eating a lot of meat lately and am seriously considering going vegan....

Anyway, this is what we will be having for dinner. It isn't hard to make. You do have to be careful working with the phyllo dough leaves. Tip: Use the spray cooking oil (butter flavored) instead of brushing on the melted butter or margarine...lots less mess. Also when working with the three sheets at a time, fold the 3 sheets in half and apply you shortening that way. Much easier to work with.

Lastly, keep the sheets covered with a moist paper towel so they don't dry out.

For filling, cook spinach, onion and garlic with a little water. Drain well and squeeze out as much moisture as you can, when it cools down a bit. Use your hands. Combine the spinach mixture with the Feta Cheese and oregano.

Lightly brush 1 sheet of phyllo with some of the melte3d margarine or butter. Place another phyllo sheet on top; brush with some margarine. Repeat with a third sheet of phyllo and margarine. Cover the remaining phyllo with a damp cloth to prevent drying. Cut the stack of phyllo lengthwise into 6 strips.

For each triangle, spoon about 1 tbsp. of the filling about 1 inch from one end of each strip. Fold the end over the filling at a 45-degree angle. Continue folding to form a triangle that encloses filling. Repeat with the remaining phyllo, margarine or butter and filling.

Place triangles on a baking sheet. Brush with margarine. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes or till golden. Serve warm. Make 24.